Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1887-08-30
AT THE THEATRE.
A Fine Audience Pays. Tribute TO
Evans 4 HOey In n "A Parlor Match"
The Next Attraction


Evans 4 Hoey In "A ParIor Match,
The Next Attraction.
That overwhelmingly funny creation, "a
Parlor Match, by the comedians Evans d
Hoey, drew large audience at Harper's
theatre last evening The ''Parlor
Match" is one of Hoyt's so>called CONS
dies. 1t is full of original and catchy"
situations, affords ample opportunity for
the display of the unmistakable genius of
the star comedians and for the intro.
duction of song and dance business. The
play, while loaded down with quaint con-
ceits and puns would In other hands fall
fiat. In the handling by the Evans &
Hoey combination. nothing is lost sight
Of The action goes along swiftly and
smoothly and the nipples of laughter
greeting the first advent of the tramp and
then the book>agent were repeated and
grew bigger and bigger until it even com
| municated TO those on the stage, and
then the fun became more outrageous
than ever
Evans as "McCorker' the literary man
book agent-never overdoes bis work,
but he misses no opportunity for a
catching hit He is perfectly natural,
| thoroughly at ease. and never at loss
for gag" Hoey is a counterpoise to
Evans. As "Old Hoss," the tramp, his
makeaup is probably the best and most
consistent with the character sought to
be represented on the comedy stage to-
day. His face is the picture of gloom,
engineered by impecuniositY and the ex>
preston never fades, whether he is skip
ping across the stage with a clock.
pair of hoop>skirts and watch dog, or
carrying off a red hot stove. From the
beginning until the ending of the action
he never cracks smile Nevertheless
there is abundance OF solid and original
| fun IN him.
Besides Evans and Hoey the cast is
strong. Innocent Kid" the "angel
| child, as acted by Miss Minnie French
was clever; Daniel Hart, as Capt. VIM.
Kidd, and Miss Helena French as the
telephone layout" were capital and
the remainder of the company acted
well. A bevy of pretty girls in the Sec
ond act added much to the popularity of
the play.
Many new songs are introduced by the
different members of the company, and
by the way Hoey worked in a brilliant
local hit of his own production, entitled
Il Haven't for Long Time Now" The
verse in particular brought down the
house. 1t runs like this:
The Molines once could play base ball.
| They were known for miles around,
And when they took batting freak
| oh, how the bali they'd pound
| Base hits, home runs, three baggers too,
| They'd make with ease, 1 VOW
| But they haven I, haven't.
Beat the Rock is auds for a long time now.
BEACH BOWERS MINsTRELs
A minstrel entertainment will be the
next attraction at Harper's theatre.
Beach & Bowers aggregation of burnt
cork artists appear next Monday night.
The Clinton Qowa) Daily Meas says:
Music hall contained nothing but stand
ing room, and but little of that, last
evening to witness the entertainment
given by Beach & Bowers minstrels. The
entertainment was excellent in every par
ticular and was loudly applauded through
out. The company will appear tonight
in an entire change of programme. This
is certainly the best company that has
visited Clinton this season, and there is
no reason why Music hall should not be
packed again tonight.